The big fat Electric Vehicle bashing thread.

iwb100

laidbackgjr said:

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/business-dealership,-sales-and-marketing/skoda-sales-down-129-electric-enyaq-volumes-strong

I mean from that article…

It was a slightly different picture for the UK, where the Karoq outsold the Octavia. The Fabia and Kamiq held third and fourth positions respectively.

As I say. In the UK SUVs and hatch’s dominate. It’s just how it is. Same in 2020.

[Deleted User]

Just out of interest I did a search for my nearest EV charging point, given that I'd have to convert my front garden to a parking spot to charge my car and destroy some lovely plants and trees.

Not only is it 48p per kWh which is about 12p per mile - about the same as economical ICE - but all 3 of them are faulty and out of use!

So I searched for the next nearest one, 1 is in use, 2nd one faulty and that was 50p a unit!

I live in a big city - 4 miles from the centre of Manchester, I'm not out in the sticks.

So on one hand I get that people can have 7.5p per unit overnight electricity at home but one of the big objections is having to charge during a long journey and if somebody visited my house with an EV on a long journey, I'd be sending them to my local EV filling station to pay as much as an ICE car for fuel - if it was working and available.

Not only that but you can get fined £10 if you are a minute late !!!

I've watch a lot of YouTube videos of drivers real experiences of using an EV for long journeys and one of the big complaints is out of service charging points, wrong type of charger etc - it isn't as easy as just going to the nearest liquid fossil fuel retailer.

Thrugelmir

Herzlos said:

grumiofoundation said:

If buying a second car electric car (lets say range <100 miles) then driving longer journeys is more time consuming due to frequent stops and the fact you have to stop regularly means you can be forced to wait for chargers. Even then unless you are driving through very rural areas for a long distance I would say the charging infrastructure (i.e. motorway service stations) is still up to the job - and getting better all the time.

For perspective though, the vast bulk of journeys are under 10 miles. Beyond some extreme cases needing to stop every 100 miles isn't really an issue (assuming easy access to charging). 

People have become accustomed to freedom. Where they live, where they work, where they holiday.  Easy to say the bulk of journeys are short. At the height of the summer holidays in the UK some 11 million journeys are made for leisure purposes. Where's the national public infrastructure to cope with the demand?  A dozen charging points at M5 service stations simply isn't enough. Let alone public coverage in Devon and Cornwall. 

With EV manufacturers focusing on the premium market as that's where the profits are to be made. When's the family car going to arrive? 

Thrugelmir

ComicGeek said:

For those who have company cars there are big savings from running an EV. 

Only to March 2025. A return to 16% of list price will reduce the attraction. 

No doubt premium cars will be targeted for BIK. 

iwb100

Thrugelmir said:

Herzlos said:

grumiofoundation said:

If buying a second car electric car (lets say range <100 miles) then driving longer journeys is more time consuming due to frequent stops and the fact you have to stop regularly means you can be forced to wait for chargers. Even then unless you are driving through very rural areas for a long distance I would say the charging infrastructure (i.e. motorway service stations) is still up to the job - and getting better all the time.

For perspective though, the vast bulk of journeys are under 10 miles. Beyond some extreme cases needing to stop every 100 miles isn't really an issue (assuming easy access to charging). 

People have become accustomed to freedom. Where they live, where they work, where they holiday.  Easy to say the bulk of journeys are short. At the height of the summer holidays in the UK some 11 million journeys are made for leisure purposes. Where's the national public infrastructure to cope with the demand?  A dozen charging points at M5 service stations simply isn't enough. Let alone public coverage in Devon and Cornwall. 

With EV manufacturers focusing on the premium market as that's where the profits are to be made. When's the family car going to arrive? 

Exactly this. I think people are prepared to make some sacrifices. They always are. But if you are on the motorway on a bank holiday and need to charge how long are people prepared to wait? Maybe 15 minutes in a queue and then half an hour for it to charge. That would be considerably longer than filling up but like I say some sacrifices needed.

But to achieve that your need hundreds and hundreds of charging points at each services. 

I don’t see any sign of such major projects happening. But maybe they are. 

[Deleted User]

Herzlos said:

For perspective though, the vast bulk of journeys are under 10 miles. Beyond some extreme cases needing to stop every 100 miles isn't really an issue (assuming easy access to charging). 

It's not extreme to drive more than 100 miles without stopping - it is perfectly reasonable to drive for 4 hours without stopping unless you have a bladder problem.

I regularly do a 150 mile journey over 2.5 hours and can't see any reason why I'd need to stop for anything, I often spend longer than that sat at my desk without moving. I can access drinks and snacks when driving so other than the toilet there isn't any reason to stop.

It isn't just stopping though, it is stopping and waiting for an hour which lengthens the journey significantly.

Herzlos

I don't mean travelling over 100 miles without stopping is extreme, just that for most people it's not really an issue as they can have a coffee/lunch/explore or whatever. 

I do get that EVs may not be suited to a once a year trek across the country and back (although many EV owners don't find it a problem), but I'm not sure it's that big a deal to that many people given the inconvenience is twice a year. It's also worth noting that many households have multiple cars, so many people have the option of using the other ICE car for the holiday road trip.


As for freedom, people can already live and visit where they want; they just tend to want to live close to work and shop close to home and so on.

I'm not convinced anyone can get 12p/mile out of an ICE car now.  50mpg at £1.50/l is 14p/mile

Thrugelmir

Herzlos said:

I don't mean travelling over 100 miles without stopping is extreme, just that for most people it's not really an issue as they can have a coffee/lunch/explore or whatever. 

I do get that EVs may not be suited to a once a year trek across the country and back (although many EV owners don't find it a problem), but I'm not sure it's that big a deal to that many people given the inconvenience is twice a year. It's also worth noting that many households have multiple cars, so many people have the option of using the other ICE car for the holiday road trip.


As for freedom, people can already live and visit where they want; they just tend to want to live close to work and shop close to home and so on.

I'm not convinced anyone can get 12p/mile out of an ICE car now.  50mpg at £1.50/l is 14p/mile

If the EV isn't used for the longer journeys. Then why tie up capital in what is ultimately a wasting asset. I'd say that many people commute far longer distances by car than they did even a few decades ago. There's a far better road network now. 

DB1904

Herzlos said:

I don't mean travelling over 100 miles without stopping is extreme, just that for most people it's not really an issue as they can have a coffee/lunch/explore or whatever. 

I do get that EVs may not be suited to a once a year trek across the country and back (although many EV owners don't find it a problem), but I'm not sure it's that big a deal to that many people given the inconvenience is twice a year. It's also worth noting that many households have multiple cars, so many people have the option of using the other ICE car for the holiday road trip.


As for freedom, people can already live and visit where they want; they just tend to want to live close to work and shop close to home and so on.

I'm not convinced anyone can get 12p/mile out of an ICE car now.  50mpg at £1.50/l is 14p/mile

Explore a motorway services. Are you serious?

Tranboy

Having just been to the most northerly part of Scotland I did see some new public electric charge points, the ones I spotted were about 30 miles from each other and had a permitted maximum charge time of 45 minutes with no return for 30 minutes, As mentioned on a tv programme there are currently about 30 thousand active public chargers but we need many more, something like 1 million by 2030 , my seaside town has several chargers on the seafront and on a sunny weekend they are all used, would a 100 mile round daytrip be so appealing if there was a possibility of not getting charged enough to get back?